


The Sting Afterwards

by peristeronic



Category: A Woman of No Importance - Wilde
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Love Epiphany (of a sort), One-Sided Attraction, Post-Canon, The epigraph doesn't count towards the word count, Wordcount: 100
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:00:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22472980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peristeronic/pseuds/peristeronic
Summary: He had prophesied that, if a woman struck him, he would fall in love with her.Ah, to be proven correct.
Relationships: Mrs. Arbuthnot/Lord Illingworth
Kudos: 5





	The Sting Afterwards

_Lord Illingworth: What do you think [Miss Worsley would] do if I kissed her?_

_Mrs. Allonby: Either marry you, or strike you across the face with her glove. What would you do if she struck you across the face with her glove?_

_Lord Illingworth: Fall in love with her, probably._

* * *

  
He walked back to Hunstanton folding his single glove over and over in his hands. He was almost a quarter mile down the road before it occurred to him that the glove was useless without its pair. What a waste of fine kidskin.

Impossible—ridiculous—to go back for it. She would chuck it into the bin without a thought.

She had actually struck him. Rachel never would have dared—not that sweet, biddable thing. But Mrs. Arbuthnot had.

He had prophesied that, if a woman struck him, he would fall in love with her.

Ah, to be proven correct.


End file.
